Here are a few Spring lawn care tips that will provide you with the lush, thick, green lawn that your neighbours are sure to be envious of.

Lawnmower Maintenance

The first thing you want to do is to sharpen your lawnmower blade. A dull blade will tear the blades of grass rather than cutting them. This will make your lawn more susceptible to disease and may cause it to turn a dull brown colour.

Your first mowing should be at a height of approximately 1.5 inches. In the following weeks, raise your mower one notch at a time until you reach a mowing height between 2.5 and 3 inches. This length helps shade your roots and provides more leaf surface for your lawn to manufacture its own food. The proper height also helps your lawn retain its moisture during the warmer Summer months. As a rule, never remove more than one-third of the leaf blade in a single cutting. Proper mowing will help maintain the health and appearance of your lawn, and will make it difficult for weeds to grow in.

Dethatching

Look at your lawn and ask yourself these questions: Is the lawn green on top but brown on the bottom? Does it look brown and dead after it has been mowed? Does the lawn feel "spongy" when walked on? If you answered yes, your lawn may have a thatch problem.

Managing thatch is an important component of maintaining a healthy lawn. Thatch, a woven layer of decay-resistant stems, roots, rhizomes, and stolon, may prevent a lawn from receiving the proper nutrients and air. A lawn with a heavy thatch is more susceptible to insects and disease. It may also take in more water, and render your fertilizer less effective. Lawns should be de-thatched to promote healthy grass growth whenever the layer of thatch is more than 1 inch (2.54 cm) thick. You can do this either mechanically or manually.

Aeration

Although aeration is recommended by lawn maintenance companies, I recommend not aerating if you have an irrigation system. The damage that it can do to your system can be expensive. The repairs are not covered under your warranty. Instead, I recommend adding worms to your lawn. As the worms come up and down, they aerate your lawn for free!

Fertilizing

One of the most important things you can do for your lawn is to fertilize it. A well- fed lawn is healthier, which means it has a better root system to combat heat, cold, drought, mowing, foot traffic, and other stressors. Although fertilizing your lawn once per year will improve its condition, fertilizing it four times per year will make it even healthier and more beautiful.

Watering

Last but not least, watering. Watering your lawn with your Mainline Irrigation system ensures evenly distributed watering throughout your whole yard. With your easy-to-use controller, you’ll automatically be watering in the early mornings (the best time to water) on your scheduled days (according to local by-laws).

Seasonal Care

Early Spring

Your lawn wakes up hungry in the spring! Fertilizing your lawn strengthens it’s roots and primes it for a good season. Apply early spring lawn fertilizer once your grass is starting to green up and begin to actively grow (around the time your lawn first needs to be mowed).

Late Spring

By this point your grass is busy and using up stored energy, so you need to keep it well-nourished. Apply late spring lawn fertilizer once approximately six weeks after the early spring feeding.

Summer

Summer is tough on grass, thanks to heat, drought, foot traffic, and insects. Fertilizing helps protect and strengthen it. Apply summer lawn fertilizer once between June and August, 6 to 8 weeks after the late spring feeding.

Fall

Your lawn is looking for the nutrients it needs to recover from summer damage while getting ready for its winter nap. Doing your fall lawn fertilization now will strengthen roots and increase nitrogen storage for a healthy, green lawn next spring. Apply fall lawn fertilizer once, right before winter hits. ( 6 to 8 weeks after the summer feeding).

Follow these tips, and then sit back and enjoy the beauty of your landscape.

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